    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [December 3, 2004]
    [Pages 3038-3040]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Individuals with Disabilities Education
    Improvement Act of 2004
    December 3, 2004

        Thanks for coming. Good morning. I'm proud to be standing up here
    with friends from both sides of the political aisle who

    [[Page 3039]]

    worked together to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities
    Education Act. It's a really good piece of legislation. It took a lot of
    hard work, and it shows what is possible in our Nation's Capital.
        I want to thank Mike Castle for being
    the sponsor of the bill. I appreciate your hard work, Mike. I also
    appreciate being here with Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been a long-time advocate for the IDEA
    legislation. I appreciate you bringing your sister. Welcome. I want to thank Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming and Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas, Senator Sessions
    from Alabama, Senator Lamar Alexander from
    Tennessee, and Congressman Ric Keller for being
    here as well. Thanks for your good work and your stalwart support.
        I appreciate Gene Hickok. Dr. Hickok
    here is the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. I want
    to thank Doug Huntt, who is the commissioner of
    the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, for agreeing to serve on
    the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. I want to
    thank you for your work on that, Dr. Huntt.
        I appreciate Kyle Stevenson being up here
    today. Kyle, thank you for coming. I first got to meet Kyle at the--
    [laughter]--White House tee-ball game. He's a pretty good player. Thanks
    for coming. Stephanie, I appreciate you
    being here. It's good to see you again. I want to thank Isabelle June
    Bailey for being here. Isabelle June, thank
    you for being here. We're so proud you're here. Thank you for joining
    us. [Laughter] She's up here with her mom, Carolyn, and her dad, and two
    brothers, Alex and Ben, are with us today as well. Thank you all for coming.
        America's schools educate over 6 million children with disabilities.
    In the past, those students were too often just shuffled through the
    system with little expectation that they could make significant progress
    or succeed like their fellow classmates. Children with disabilities
    deserve high hopes, high expectations, and extra help.
        In the bill I sign today, we're raising expectations for the
    students. We're giving schools and parents the tools they need to meet
    them. We're applying the reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act to the
    Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act so schools are
    accountable for teaching every single child. All our students deserve
    excellent teachers, so this law ensures that students with disabilities
    will have special education teachers with the skills and training to
    teach special education and their subject area.
        Some students with disabilities will need intensive, individualized
    help. So this law, for the first time, will support tutoring programs to
    help children in schools that need improvement. When schools are so busy
    trying to deal with unnecessary and costly lawsuits, they have less time
    to spend with students. So we're creating opportunities for parents and
    teachers to resolve problems early. We're making the system less
    litigious so it can focus on the children and their parents.
        The people who care most about the students are, of course, the
    teachers and especially the parents, who know their needs and know their
    names. So we're giving more flexibility and control over the students'
    education to parents and teachers and principals. We'll make sure that
    parents and schools can change a student's educational program to better
    meet their needs, without having to attend unnecessary meetings or
    complete unnecessary paperwork. We trust the local folks to meet high
    standards for all our kids, and this bill gives them the freedom and
    flexibility to meet our goals.
        All students in America can learn. That's what all of us up here
    believe. All of us understand we have an obligation to make sure no
    child is left behind in America. So I'm honored to sign the Individuals
    with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and once again
    thank the Members for being here.

    [[Page 3040]]

    Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder, Special Olympics. H.R. 1350, approved
    December 3, was assigned Public Law No. 108-446.